NOVA VREMENA, NOVI IZAZOVI I NOVE METODE

We live in changing and challenging times. Many countries in Europe are making plans on how to improve their competitive advantage in order to match the current global challenges in the best ways. In many countries the focus is on how to meet the global challenges with the support from the educational sector. In Finland education has been an important part of building the Finnish economy. When the tough times continue in the economy it is still good news to see how the educational sector and business life still continue to support each other through continuous exchange. One of the educational aims in the country is to continue to learn new things through your whole life – this is one of the key stones upon which the society is built. This is also one way to continue to improve your competitive advantage in the country. According to the last statistics from July 2015 the Vaasa region and the region where the capital of Finland is situated belongs to the most successful ones when it comes to competitive advantage. This is where Novia University of Applied Sciences is situated with one of several campuses. Among the success factors are educational level, innovation, company dynamics, and productivity. Cross sectional knowledge exchange is prioritized in society and therefore research and projects in this area receive high attention and also funding. In comparison with many countries Finland is also a very open and transparent society. This supports the knowledge exchange between business and educational sector. The paper is based on the results from one of the cross border projects where new teaching methods in entrepreneurial education in four countries were documented and took place in Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal and Finland. The results showed that the project and the methods were successful in using new methods within business education in these countries.Živimo u promjenjivim i izazovnim vremenima. Mnoge zemlje u Europi izrađuju planove o tome kako poboljšati svoju konkurentsku prednost kako bi najbolje udovoljile trenutnim globalnim izazovima. U mnogim je zemljama fokus na tome kako zadovoljiti globalne izazove uz podršku obrazovnog sektora. U Finskoj obrazovanje čini važan dio u izgradnji finskog gospodarstva. Kada se teška vremena u gospodarstvu nastave, dobra je vijest ta što se obrazovni sektor i poslovni život nastavljaju podržavati i dalje kroz kontinuiranu razmjenu. Jedan od obrazovnih ciljeva u zemlji je učiti nove stvari kroz cijeli život – to je jedan od temelja na kojem se gradi društvo. To je također način da se poboljša konkurentna prednost u zemlji. Prema posljednjim statističkim podacima iz srpnja 2015. regija Vaasa i regija gdje se nalazi glavni grad Finske pripadaju najuspješnijim regijama kada je u pitanju konkurentna prednost. Tu se također nalazi Veleučilište Novia u jednom od nekoliko kampusa. Među faktorima uspjeha su stupanj obrazovanja, inovacije, dinamika tvrtke i produktivnost. Poprečna razmjena znanja je prioritet u društvu, stoga istraživanja i projekti na ovom području dobivaju veliku pažnju te novčanu potporu. U usporedbi s mnogim zemljama finsko društvo je vrlo otvoreno i transparentno. To podupire razmjenu znanja između poslovnog i obrazovnog sektora. Rad se temelji na rezultatima iz jednog od međunarodnih projekata u kojima su dokumentirane nove metode poučavanja u poduzetničkom obrazovanju u četiri zemlje: Hrvatskoj, Sloveniji, Portugalu i Finskoj. Rezultati su pokazali da su projekt i metode bili uspješni u korištenju novih metoda unutar poslovnog obrazovanja u tim zemljama

NOVA VREMENA, NOVI IZAZOVI I NOVE METODE

We live in changing and challenging times. Many countries in Europe are making plans on how to improve their competitive advantage in order to match the current global challenges in the best ways. In many countries the focus is on how to meet the global challenges with the support from the educational sector. In Finland education has been an important part of building the Finnish economy. When the tough times continue in the economy it is still good news to see how the educational sector and business life still continue to support each other through continuous exchange. One of the educational aims in the country is to continue to learn new things through your whole life – this is one of the key stones upon which the society is built. This is also one way to continue to improve your competitive advantage in the country. According to the last statistics from July 2015 the Vaasa region and the region where the capital of Finland is situated belongs to the most successful ones when it comes to competitive advantage. This is where Novia University of Applied Sciences is situated with one of several campuses. Among the success factors are educational level, innovation, company dynamics, and productivity. Cross sectional knowledge exchange is prioritized in society and therefore research and projects in this area receive high attention and also funding. In comparison with many countries Finland is also a very open and transparent society. This supports the knowledge exchange between business and educational sector. The paper is based on the results from one of the cross border projects where new teaching methods in entrepreneurial education in four countries were documented and took place in Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal and Finland. The results showed that the project and the methods were successful in using new methods within business education in these countries.Živimo u promjenjivim i izazovnim vremenima. Mnoge zemlje u Europi izrađuju planove o tome kako poboljšati svoju konkurentsku prednost kako bi najbolje udovoljile trenutnim globalnim izazovima. U mnogim je zemljama fokus na tome kako zadovoljiti globalne izazove uz podršku obrazovnog sektora. U Finskoj obrazovanje čini važan dio u izgradnji finskog gospodarstva. Kada se teška vremena u gospodarstvu nastave, dobra je vijest ta što se obrazovni sektor i poslovni život nastavljaju podržavati i dalje kroz kontinuiranu razmjenu. Jedan od obrazovnih ciljeva u zemlji je učiti nove stvari kroz cijeli život – to je jedan od temelja na kojem se gradi društvo. To je također način da se poboljša konkurentna prednost u zemlji. Prema posljednjim statističkim podacima iz srpnja 2015. regija Vaasa i regija gdje se nalazi glavni grad Finske pripadaju najuspješnijim regijama kada je u pitanju konkurentna prednost. Tu se također nalazi Veleučilište Novia u jednom od nekoliko kampusa. Među faktorima uspjeha su stupanj obrazovanja, inovacije, dinamika tvrtke i produktivnost. Poprečna razmjena znanja je prioritet u društvu, stoga istraživanja i projekti na ovom području dobivaju veliku pažnju te novčanu potporu. U usporedbi s mnogim zemljama finsko društvo je vrlo otvoreno i transparentno. To podupire razmjenu znanja između poslovnog i obrazovnog sektora. Rad se temelji na rezultatima iz jednog od međunarodnih projekata u kojima su dokumentirane nove metode poučavanja u poduzetničkom obrazovanju u četiri zemlje: Hrvatskoj, Sloveniji, Portugalu i Finskoj. Rezultati su pokazali da su projekt i metode bili uspješni u korištenju novih metoda unutar poslovnog obrazovanja u tim zemljama

The effect of vitamin B supplementation on neuronal injury in people living with HIV – a randomised controlled trial

Effective antiretroviral therapy has radically changed the course of the HIV pandemic. However, despite efficient therapy, milder forms of neurocognitive symptoms are still present in people living with HIV. Plasma homocysteine is a marker of vitamin B deficiency and has been associated with cognitive impairment. People living with HIV have higher homocysteine concentrations than HIV-negative controls, and we have previously found an association between plasma homocysteine concentration and CSF concentration of neurofilament light protein, a sensitive marker for ongoing neuronal injury in HIV. This prompted us to perform this randomised controlled trial, to evaluate the effect of vitamin B supplementation on neuronal injury in a cohort of people living with HIV on stable antiretroviral therapy. At the Department of Infectious Diseases at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, 124 virally suppressed people living with HIV were screened to determine eligibility for this study. Sixty-one fulfilled the inclusion criteria by having plasma homocysteine levels at or above 12 μmol/L. They were randomised (1:1) to either active treatment (with cyanocobalamin 0.5 mg, folic acid 0.8 mg, and pyridoxine 3.0 mg) q.d. or to a control arm with a cross-over to active treatment after 12 months. Cognitive function was measured repeatedly during the trial, which ran for 24 months. We found a significant correlation between plasma neurofilament light protein and plasma homocysteine at screening (n = 124, r = 0.35, p < 0.0001). Plasma homocysteine levels decreased by 35% from a geometric mean of 15.7 μmol/L (95% CI 14.7–16.7) to 10.3 μmol/L (95% CI 9.3–11.3) in the active treatment arm between baseline and month 12. No significant change was detected in the control arm during the same time period (geometric mean 15.2 [95% CI 14.3–16.2] vs geometric mean 16.5 μmol/L [95% CI 14.7–18.6]). A significant difference in change in plasma homocysteine levels was seen between arms at 12 months (-40% [95% CI -48 – -30%], p < 0.001). However, no difference between arms was seen in either plasma neurofilament light protein levels (-6.5% [ -20–9%], p = 0.39), or cognitive measures (-0.08 [-0.33–0.17], p = 0.53). Our results do not support a vitamin B-dependent cause of the correlation between neurofilament light protein and homocysteine. Additional studies are needed to further elucidate this matter

Handbook of Good Practices - How to Bring Entrepreneurial Spirit at Your University?

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adaptation in a Business Network Cooperation Context (summary section only)

In today’s business one can say that competition does not take place inside the network, but between networks. Change and dynamics are central issues in network studies, and a company, due its changing environment, can identify opportunities and threats and respond to them accordingly. These opportunities are vital, but also complex and demanding for the management. Earlier research has identified a shortcoming in explanations of how the micro-level interactions to macro-level patterns are connected. The IMP-group has been trying to fill this research gap with research on interactions within business networks. In this area of research lies the focus of research on relationships between organizations. Adaptation in cooperation is a central concept within business network research. Adaptation has been dealt with in previous literature, but the focus of the studies has mainly been outside this phenomenon, and it has mostly had a supporting role. Most literature has also described the buyers' point of view in studied supply networks, whereas much less attention has been paid to the suppliers' view on them. This study focuses on this research gap. The results of the study stress that adaptation should be included to a greater extent in the strategy work of companies. The adaptations should be carefully planned and, as far as possible, made consciously. Conscious, well-planned adaptations can be seen as investments into present and future relationships, and resources should be invested into something that does not increase the company’s dependence, but divides the power in the relationship between the companies. Adaptations should be planned so that they result in a more offensive way of responding to the demands that are placed upon the companies. In this way, the actions can be viewed and analyzed in accordance with whether the actions make the company weaker or stronger

Organizing for success: Finnish export partner groups in focus

Studies of Finnish export partner groups have revealed that a fundamental problem exists concerning the limping cooperation between the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the groups. Cooperation is strongly connected to the organization and coordination of the groups. Different organizational forms imply that the export manager’s role likewise differs. This paper examines the organization of export partner groups and the role of the export manager in relation to the organizational form and how this can enhance cooperation between the participating SMEs. Individuals who have worked as export managers were interviewed. In export partner groups, organization depends primarily on the companies’ technology, the compatibility between their products and services, and the goals of the groups. Different organizational forms have different benefits, and the export manager’s role concerning sales preparation and coordination, as well as management of other net activities, varies accordingly to the organizational form.peerReviewe